I Lived
by Jasmine Lita Everdeen
Summary: Nico wasn't alone when he travelled through Tartarus. Unknown to both demigod camps, there is a girl who is both Roman and Greek. As they spend longer in Tartarus and with each other, the two demigods realise that both camps are in grave danger. But at the final battle, can Nico and Tate come out of Tartarus alive and together? Nico x OC


**1**

**NICO**

I was forced to walk as the Earthborn that was holding my shackles stumbled forward. To be honest, I couldn't believe that Earthborn actually had the metal capacity to walk and make sure that their prisoner was still there behind them.

I was starving, but I wouldn't tell them that. I was also tired, but they wouldn't know that, either. If there was one thing that I learnt from being around the Romans, it was how to control your emotions. Even if you showed even the slightest hint of feeling anything, they would pounce you like wolves.

The head dracaena, the stupid creature, was arrogant enough to assume that I was weak enough to not do anything except walk, let alone escape, so it let me keep my sword and backpack. Well, too bad for it, because I don't weaken that easily. I am waiting for a moment, just one second, so I can escape.

I lost track of time until the dracaena decided to stop to rest. Believe it or not, even monsters had to sleep. They tied me to a dead tree and left me, leaving a guard to watch over the whole camp and me. It was hard to resist, but I waited till they had finished taunting me and eating, biding by time. My backpack was sitting right next to this tree, hidden out of sight. There was a bit of room for me to twist my hands out of the rope; monsters aren't exactly the best at tying knots. I also had experience at getting out of rope handcuffs before.

The guard had dropped off to sleep when I made my move. I twisted my hands in my well-practised way and the ropes slid off. I rubbed my wrists and slung my backpack over my shoulder, sneaking a look back and hurrying off. The ground pulsed under my battered black sneakers, reminding me that I was in Tartarus and this was Tartarus' _body_.

Yuck.

I prayed fervently to Hades that the monsters that I had left behind were still sleeping and unaware that I was gone. I know that I can't hide from them forever, but hopefully I can get to the Doors of Death before they can get me.

I break into a brisk walk, dodging various bones and rocks. The more distance I put between that camp and me is better. The cut on my arm from a _ara_ stung under my jacket. I had tried to clean it up but it wasn't working that well. There weren't exactly medicine shops smack in the middle of Tartarus.

A bone cracked to my left. I stopped. I put out a sensor for any dead things moving. After several alive skeletons in that army I escaped from, anything's possible. To my dread, this thing wasn't dead. In fact, it was very much alive.

I placed a hand on the hilt of my sword. With small cuts on my hands, I wasn't in tip-top shape for fighting, but I won't go down not fighting.

Another bone cracked. I tensed. There was the sound of quick footsteps, then something leaped into the air. I drew my sword and went back a few steps so the thing that attacked would land on the ground. In the red light, the thing that caught my attention was the object on my attacker's head. _A football cap_?

But then I couldn't think about that anymore because it attacked again. Sharp blades whipped out, slashing. It was all I could do to parry the blows, unable to do any attacking of my own. Bounding off a boulder to my right, the thing flew into the air again, the blades catching the light again and they faced down. Unable to defend myself due to my burning sword arm, I closed my eyes and waited for my end.

But it didn't come. I cracked open my eyes and my attacker was crouching a few feet away from me, regarding me with bright green eyes.

_So much like Percy's..._

Okay, where did that come from?

"Who are you?" A surprisingly feminine voice whispered.

Against all of my instincts, I bent down and lay my sword down. "I'm not a monster."

The girl, I think, snorted. "I can see that. Unless you can shape-shift, you're a human.

I grimaced bitterly. Oh, how I wished I was just another mortal. But I held my hands up, the universal sign of peace and surrender. "Can I know who my attacker is?"

The girl hesitated, but she came out of the shadows into the light. I saw dirty white-blond hair under a Manchester United cap, bright green eyes and pale skin. She was dressed like me, in jeans and a shirt under a battered jacket. She sheathed her twin blades and held out a dusty hand.

"I'm Tate. And you are?"

I took her slightly cold hand-that's weird, it's like over 2000 degrees here-and said: "Nico Di Angelo. Nice to meet you."

**Hey! I'm Jasmine, and this is my fic! The idea for this hit me right after I finished Blood of Olympus. There are going to be no spoilers in this fic for it, though, so it's safe! This is an intro, so there isn't much stuff going on. The real good stuff is gonna happen next chapters! Please review, because reviewing makes me really happy and motivates me to get new chapters up quickly!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**- Jaz xxx**


End file.
